ASU’s first Man Up club meeting brought nearly 200 male students to the Wells Fargo Arena on Oct. 24 in an effort to promote male respect for women.
Club Vice President Samuel Richardson said in his opening speech that the club is for men interested in taking an active role in respecting women on campus.
The marketing junior said the club is not limited to promoting respect.
“Man Up exists to challenge men to live responsibly on campus,” he said.
The club’s founders drafted “The Man Laws” to guide members. These guidelines include advice to reject passivity, lead courageously and initiate respect.
Richardson said these laws define what it is to be a man, a sentiment echoed by his fellow club members.
He said the details of normal club meetings, which are nicknamed “Fight Club” meetings, are still being worked out.
The club is brainstorming events for the remainder of the year, Richardson said.
A Nov. 10 event at Murdock Hall on the Tempe campus will focus on bystander intervention training, which covers how to react in general emergency situations.
Richardson said he felt encouraged by the responses the club received after its first meeting.
He said a challenge has gone out across campus to follow the club’s name and “man up.”
Film sophomore Andrew Baldock was one of the members to take the stage at the meeting.
Baldock said he sees the club as an opportunity to change not only a campus, but a culture.
“Any guy can disrespect a woman,” he said. “It takes a real man to stand up for them.”
He said the club will change the way society views men and how men see women.
Faculty adviser Sean Wiseman compared the club to a story about a school janitor who would greet students as they arrived on campus. The man did this every day, no matter the weather.
He said the school held the janitor’s funeral when he died.
Wiseman said the story reflects the club’s mission to impact the community and pursue passions.
“Thousands showed up because of the impact he had,” Wiseman said.
Reach the reporter at smande17@asu.edu
